It would be desirable if depositors and investors could obtain fully-insured, interest-bearing accounts with an unlimited number of transactions or withdrawals per month. However, present statutory and regulatory requirements, which in the United States (“US”) are generally codified as Title 12 of the United States Code (“U.S.C.”) (Banks and Banking), restrict the flexibility of banks and savings institutions, and limit investors and depositors seeking investments and deposits having a lower risk profile to a rather limited selection of choices, all of which suffer inhibiting constraints.
First, Title 12 U.S.C. Chapter 3 (Federal Reserve System), along with Title 12 Code of Federal Regulations (“C.F.R.”) Chapter II Part 204 (12 C.F.R. §§204.1-204.136) (Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) Regulation D) and Title 12 C.F.R. Chapter II Part 217 (12 C.F.R. §§217.1-217.101) (FRB Regulation Q), prevents certain financial institutions from paying interest on deposit accounts that permit unlimited (at least more than six) monthly withdrawals of deposited funds (known as “demand deposit accounts” or “DDAs”). More specifically, 12 C.F.R. 329.2 states that “no bank shall, directly or indirectly, by any device whatsoever, pay interest on any demand deposit”. A “deposit” is any money placed into a checking account, savings account, Certificate of Deposit (CD), or the like. In a “demand” account, the owner can make an unlimited number of funds transfers to another account (having the same or a different owner), or to a third party, typically by bank drafts, checks, credit cards, and debit cards. In other words, an account in which a depositor has the ability to make six or more monthly transfers will be deemed a demand account and no interest will be payable on the funds deposited therein (unless the funds of a non-commercial entity are held in a NOW account under 18 U.S.C. 1832(a)). Owners of demand accounts are denied interest on their funds.
Second, 12 U.S.C. §1821(a) limits government-guaranteed deposit insurance provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) to a maximum coverage of $100K (K=1,000) for each owner of (or, generally, each ownership interest in) funds deposited in a single insured institution. The FDIC, created under Title 12 U.S.C. Chapter 3 (the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), provides insurance for deposits in most United States banks through its Bank Insurance Fund (“BIF”) and in most United States savings institutions through its Savings Association Insurance Fund (“SAIF”). The rules governing insurance of deposits in institutions insured by the BIF and the SAIF are the same, and base insurance coverage on the concept of ownership rights and capacities. Funds held in different ownership categories are insured separately from each other; and funds owned by the same ownership category but held in different accounts at the same financial entity are subsumed under the same insurance coverage limit.
Banks and other savings institutions have developed several approaches, which include money-market mutual fund sweeps and re-purchase agreement (“repo”) sweeps, offered by third parties in an effort to compete with those financial institutions, for example broker/dealers, who are able to offer interest on cash balances for all their customers including commercial customers by using money-market mutual funds. However, these approaches are disadvantageous in that they involve a removal of commercial customer deposits from the bank's balance sheets into the assets of the money market-mutual fund provider, and also of the deposits from FDIC protection. This disadvantage is especially burdensome for smaller banks, such as regional or local banks.
Therefore, what is needed are systems and methods for providing fully-insured (i.e., with insurance that may exceed $100,000), interest-bearing accounts with an unlimited number of transactions per month without removing net deposits from participating financial institutions. It would be especially advantageous if these systems could be readily integrated into the existing infrastructure of a bank, savings institution, credit union, or other financial institution in a manner that would minimally disrupt these institution's existing customer relationships.
Citation or identification of any reference in this section or any section of this application shall not be construed that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention. Further, headings and sub-headings are used for convenience and clarity only; they are not to be interpreted in any limiting fashion.